Let's talk out loud about senior sex, celebrating the joys and addressing the challenges. This blog offers senior sex news, views and reviews of sex toys, books, and films that interest sex-positive Boomers and elders. Joan Price is the author of The Ultimate Guide to Sex After 50: How to Maintain – or Regain! – a Spicy, Satisfying Sex Life; the award-winning Naked at Our Age: Talking Out Loud about Senior Sex; and the spicy memoir, Better Than I Ever Expected: Straight Talk About Sex After 60.

Friday, July 01, 2016

9/1/2017 note: My links formerly went to older models of the Pulse which were new at that time. I've just changed the links to the newest model, Pulse III, even if the text refers to an older model.

At all my talks and workshops, and in private conversations with men who want to have satisfying sex despite erectile difficulties, I recommend The Pulse, the king of penis vibrators. I am bringing this review to the top in case you don't know about it. - Joan

6/30/15 update: There is an even newer version of this product -- The Pulse II -- which David Pittle reviewed. See his update below. Enjoy!

Presenting... The Pulse, a pulsing, oscillating, amazing vibrator for penises that does not require an erection for his pleasure!

That's right -- unlike other vibrating "sleeves," the penis does not have to be hard to start enjoying it. Spread open the flexible flaps, rest your penis in it, turn it on, and enjoy the sensations.

The fabulous folks at Smitten Kitten first showed me this vibrator, praising its qualities. The Pulse works for men of all ages, and it's especially splendid for pleasuring an older man. If you get erections erratically, this toy will make you hard. If erections are not in the picture, you'll still feel tremendous sexual pleasure.

Of course I had to get some men of our age to test the Pulse for us. You can imagine how easy it was to get three volunteers! These men all live in different places, and I wanted to give them each plenty of time to play and experiment, so I arranged with Hot Octopuss, the British manufacturer of the Pulse, to send one product, and the dear folks at Smitten Kitten sent two more.

Here's what my Pulse-pleasured guys told me:

Richard:

I'm a man, almost 58, who has had a number of sexual issues going back more than 8 years. Most of my issues -- temporary impotence, lack of sensation, pain with orgasm -- are because I'm a prostate cancer survivor who was treated surgically. Recently I've been able to resolve many of these issues.

Given my past challenges, I've haven't taken a lot of time to explore penile sex toys beyond cock rings and therapeutic penis pumps. I wasn't sure what a toy could do for me anyway. But that changed with the Pulse! While not a traditional sleeve toy, it does deliver vibratory sensations to the penis. It has a number of speeds and intensities that are easily set by a lighted button.

It has a unique feature where some of the vibrations are concentrated in a circular section that delivers an extra boost to the highly sensitive underside of the head of the penis. For me, it’s been a great erection builder. I've enjoyed taking the time to play and experiment with the various settings of intensity.

Because I still have some limited sensation, I've not been able to reach orgasm using the Pulse exclusively. But it is a very pleasurable toy and has warmed me up to some very nice plateaus. It's made of hard plastic and high-grade non-toxic silicone. It can be used with or without lubricant, but is more effective as a "stroker" toy when used with lubricant. It's easily cleaned with a damp cloth.

Paul:

The Pulse is one toy that’s worth the money! . It has easy-to-use controls, fits nicely in the hand and has a coin-like, raised bump inside at just the right place. It feels wonderful!

On the low setting, with a little water-based lube, this thing got me hard in no time. And this was after I’d had sex and a great orgasm earlier in the day. I’m over 50, so that’s saying a lot. The next day, this thing had me orgasming in minutes.

Watch out if you get lube on the hand you’re holding it with though -- it can get slippery. It performs well, but does take a couple minutes to clean due to the ribs inside. A quick wipe with soap and water does the trick -- it can’t be submerged.

This is the only criticism I have: It comes with a USB charger cord but without an adapter to plug into a wall outlet. Fortunately I had one, and you can pick one up cheap.

David M. Pittle, Ph.D (age 70+):

Most men’s sex toys seem to be some form of sleeve to simulate a vagina. The Pulse is different. Like the sleeves, it is a tube for the penis to enter, but it is open at the top with wings that bend out, so the penis can be simply laid into the tube on top of the strongest point of vibration. This creates the greatest sensations on the most sensitive part of the penis, the frenulum.

This is an amazingly versatile sex toy. My experience with it was “five stars.” That puts it right up there with the Hitachi Magic Wand.

I was skeptical about the battery because battery toys that are powerful run down fairly rapidly. Ten or fifteen minutes of use and they need recharging. Not the case with the Pulse. In a tribute to battery engineers, the Pulse ran for four sessions of 15 to 20 minutes and was still going strong.

This is a great product. The only criticism I have is that it can’t be immersed in water. The water will get into the battery compartment. That is somewhat minor, but given the price, a waterproof charging system would have been nice.

Update: David received a sample of the new Pulse II Solo and had this to add:

There is a new king in town: The Pulse II Solo. First, the new model’s vibrations are not only stronger, but also feel more effective and include programmed patterns. Second, the vibrations come from a piston mechanism designed for penile stimulation. Third, it works longer per charge. There are many other improvements, but these are the most apparent.

The Pulse II Solo maintains the open top with expanding wings. A flaccid penis can easily be inserted. As it responds to the vibratory stimulation, it becomes as hard as it can and continues to increase sensitivity. As this happens, those wings spread to accommodate the growth in girth.

The vibratory plate, located under the penis glans at its most sensitive area, is large enough to continue to make contact during the expansion. There are many nerve endings at the base of the penis. The Pulse II Solo is able to simultaneously excite these nerves without losing touch with the nerves in the glans.

As you can tell, I was excited by the original Pulse, but I’m an out and out fan of the Pulse II. It is without doubt the best vibrator sex toy for men with erectile challenges that I have seen. As a sex therapist often dealing with older men with erectile dysfunction, this is very important to me. I will certainly be recommending this product.

Note from Joan:The Pulse is amazing for men. It claims that the outer part also pleasures a woman partner for use by a couple together.

In my case, not so. The inside part that holds the penis is comfortable and stimulating for him, but the outside part that supposedly can stimulate the clitoris is mostly hard plastic and doesn't vibrate much, not the least bit sexy for me. Of course, your experience may vary, and another woman reported getting plenty of pleasure from it. [Note: This comment was based on testing the original Pulse. I'll update it when I've tested the Pulse II Duo, which I understand is greatly improved.]

My recommendation is to let the man use this on his own -- he'll love it, and he deserves a superb sex toy of his own!

14 comments:

At age 66 and thanks to writers/teachers like Lonnie Barbach, Betty Dodson, Susie Bright thru the years (and now Joan!) I've come to believe strongly that to be a good lover in a marriage for the long haul, a man (and his partner) has to be a weekly masturbator, to keep in touch with his/her own eroticism. Hardware and software changes here as I get older. I'd like to say I don't need help to ejaculate but I do. I need: a) lube b) a bullet vibe for balls and shaft and frenulum (looks like I'll be trying this vibe; thanks for the review!) c) sometimes an ice cube for temp play helps...balls and shaft Thanks for the review Joan. BTW, did you know that the word Frenulum is NOT in dictionary dot com? Only in the slang dictionary Urbandictionary dot com. Sad deal that men know so little about their cocks!

Received the Pulse a week ago. Have only had a short session with it, but I gather it will be very effective in bringing me to orgasm.

In addition to the other comments about wishing it were waterproof, it would be nice to have a vibration setting or two lower than the lowest setting. The toy's vibrations start out pretty intense, which is mainly why I have only tried the Pulse once.

The Pulse I have is a bit noisy, and reading reviews elsewhere this seems to be normal. It would be a plus if it were quieter, but it certainly isn't a deal breaker. It is possible that the motor used for the pulsing/oscillating can't be made to run slower and quieter.

Joan, don't get me wrong, the strong vibrations of the Pulse feel wonderful. But it would be nice to be able to work up to them. There are also times when having just enough stimulation to keep you on edge can be wonderful.

Regardless, the Pulse is definitely a toy I will be keeping.

Side note: Any possibility of adding a comment option for Name/Age? I am 55, and that may or may not be important for someone reading this thread.

I don't have any control over how Blogger offers options, but I do recommend including your age with your name (e.g. "Michael age 55") because, as you note, it is important to other readers. Thanks again.

I am 59 and just got the Pulse 2 Duo. It works very well with lube, without lube, no. Also, I found that it takes a little getting used to the controls. So far, despite all the options it only seems to do one thing, thankfully it does that one thing well. The buttons are not intuitive and there is a learning curve. This would not be a good toy/tool for someone with essential tremors or dexterity issues.

The Pulse is a good toy for men, but it seems to fail easy. I have literally been four of these and I still do not have a reliable unit. I finally gave up after finding out that if you apply a magic wand (on high power) to the frenulum of the penis you get exactly the same effect with a much easier to clean and more reliable toy, and your clitoris owning partners can use it too!

I am impressed with the reviews and will order mine asap. We have a crazed monkey sex life at 72 and after seeing what a vibrator can do for her, I can't wait to have one intended for me. Hers are so strong they almost hurt on Mr. Happy's head....and then I cum. Now we can have a contest so see who lasts longest....lol.

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Join me in talking out loud about senior sex! I am an advocate for ageless sexuality and the author of The Ultimate Guide to Sex after 50, Naked at Our Age: Talking Out Loud about Senior Sex, and Better Than I Ever Expected: Straight Talk About Sex After Sixty. I edited Ageless Erotica.
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